Frequently asked questions

The things we get asked most, answered plainly. If something is missing, write to hello@heirleaf.com and we'll add it here.

Before you buy

What exactly do I get?: A PDF of your book, A5 and ready to print wherever you like: the inside pages and the cover, as two files. It isn't a printed book; it's the file you can make as many printed books from as you want.
How much is it, and what else will I end up paying?: Forty-nine dollars, once. You will never pay for copies, or shipping, or renewal, or colour, or a second volume. If one day we offer to print it for you, that will be a separate purchase you decide on, with the price shown first.
Is it a subscription?: No. It's a single payment and there is nothing to cancel. There is no automatic renewal.
Can I see it before I buy?: Yes, the whole thing. The sample is a complete book, with its chapters, its contents page and its real typesetting, and you can download it without leaving us your email.
What if I start and don't finish?: The book exists from the very first answer. Six answers make a booklet of six answers, not a failure: it's typeset just the same, with its contents page and its cover. Twenty-one already make a whole book.

How long does it take?: The twenty-one core questions are about two hours in writing, and most people do it in an afternoon. You don't have to do it in one sitting: it saves itself and you carry on another day where you left off.
Do I have to answer them all?: No. Twenty-one make a book. There are more if you feel like carrying on, and you can skip any of them without explaining why.
What if a question doesn't apply to me?: You skip it and it disappears. They're written not to assume anything: none of them takes for granted a partner, or children, or money, or that you were happy.
Can I speak my answers instead of writing them?: Not yet. Today you answer in writing. Voice comes after launch, and we haven't rushed it because transcribing someone's words badly is worse than not transcribing them at all.
Are you going to pester me?: One email a week at most, with your next question inside, and you can switch it off in one click. There is no counter of what you haven't done and no deadline for anything.

Do you rewrite what I write?: Not one word. What gets printed is exactly what you wrote. The only things we write are the book's furniture: the cover, the contents page and the colophon.
Is it in colour?: Black ink, and we say so on the first screen. It's what makes it printable anywhere for very little money.
Where do I get it printed?: Wherever you like, as many times as you like. It's A5, a size every print shop has in its catalogue, and it also comes out well on a home printer on ordinary paper.
Can I carry on answering after I've paid?: Yes, and you download the book again with the new answers in it without paying twice. The file is yours and it doesn't expire.

Do I have to make an account or remember a password?: No. There is no account and no password. Your book lives at a link, and that link is the key.
What if I lose the link?: If you left us your email, we sent it there and it's sitting in your inbox. If you didn't, write to hello@heirleaf.com from the same address and we'll give it back to you. Your link is permanent: it doesn't depend on any email arriving.
Can my son or my grandchild help me?: Yes, and it's the most practical way. The link opens on any device, the two of you can write it between you, and what gets written saves itself.
Can I delete something by accident?: There is no button anywhere to delete an answer. What you write saves itself and stays.

What if I change my mind?: Thirty days from payment, no explanation needed, even if you've already downloaded the book. It's in the terms — and if the person doing the writing falls ill or dies along the way, that conversation is had by a person and not by a form.
What name will show up on my bank statement?: Paddle's, who handle the payment for us. If you see a charge from Paddle and don't recognise it, this is it.

Who can read what I write?: Nobody. Not even whoever gave it to you, and that isn't a setting anyone can change: it's built that way on purpose.
Do you train artificial intelligence on what I write?: No, never. We have a whole page explaining where we use AI and where we don't.
Can I ask you to delete everything?: Yes. Write to hello@heirleaf.com and we delete it properly, with no copies kept. Billing records have to be kept by law, and that's written down too.

If I give it, will I see what they write?: No, not one word. Not their answers, not how far along they are, not how many they've done. Only whether they've redeemed the code or not.
Does the code expire?: They have twelve months to redeem it. Once redeemed, the book never expires.
When does the email reach them?: On the day you choose. If you don't pick a date, it goes out as soon as you've paid. And if you'd rather hand it over yourself, we give you the code and send nothing.

Didn't find what you were after? Write to me and I answer, not a bot: hello@heirleaf.com. Or read the whole sample book